ADP - Live From Disney World

I'm headed to Walt Disney World solo tomorrow morning. I've always wanted to run an official Disney sponsored race and during this trip I'll be running Mickey's Halloween Fun Run as part of the Food & Wine Festival. The race takes place in the Magic Kingdom resort area and eventually through the Magic Kingdom park. I know it's only a 5k, but since I'm not much of a runner it will suit me just fine.

A lot is planned for this trip. There simply will not be a dull moment. Here's a quick snapshot of what is planned during the 6 day trip.

Saturday, Oct 2nd - Mickey's Halloween Fun Run 5K, Breakfast at the Crystal Palace (after the race), Check-in at Saratoga Springs, head to EPCOT to root on the half marathoners, post race party at EPCOT's World Showcase

Sunday, Oct. 3rd - Hollywood Studios, Polynesian resort for a large meet, Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

Are you tired yet? :laughing:

Monday Oct 4th - Workout, nothing planned yet

Tuesday Oct 5th - Nothing planned yet

Wednesday Oct 6th - Heading home

I should mention I will be grabbing some photos and doing some research for future blogs and articles for the Studios Central.

I will be staying at the Wilderness Lodge Villas and Saratoga Springs during this visit....Not that I'll be in my room much.

Expect to see live, up to the second photos and updates right here on this thread and on my Facebook page during the trip.

I'm headed to the Indy airport early tomorrow morning. Hopefully(fingers crossed) our plane can make it to MCO before TD 16 hits nearby.

I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of friends this trip. It seems like a ton of friends are going to be at Disney World this weekend for the races and opening of Food & Wine.

I'm in my room at the Wilderness Lodge Villas. The last room at the end of the hall. Lucky me!

The weather is mostly cloudy for now. The flight was pretty uneventful. I'm amazed at how fast I can get here. From the time we took off in Indy to arriving in my room it was about 3 hours and 10 minutes. Pretty amazing. Having a rental car with a quick pick-up feature really saves you a ton of time. Plus, I didn't check any luggage...I just have two carry-ons.

I used online check-in. It seemed to work pretty well. Just had to show my drivers license. I got my packet of information and room and I was on my way.

The room is very clean. It's a studio and since I'm solo I don't need a ton of space anyway.

I'm off...Not sure where to go yet. My mind says head to EPCOT, but I'll be there quite a bit this weekend. I'm sort of thinking DHS.

I'm headed out the door and I'm going to take a bus to the theme park. Whatever bus comes first is probably the park I'll visit. If EPCOT comes first it's off to EPCOT. If the DHS bus comes first it's off the to DHS.

I'm back from a day and evening at Universal Orlando. Had a great time in Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Even though it was a bit crowded I was able to sit at the Hogshead bar and enjoy a frozen Butterbeer. I was able to walk around and get in and out of the shops with no wait. A real treat! I strolled through the rest of IOA taking my time and stopping to relax along the way.

Later on I had dinner with some friends at Texas De Brazil. We had a great time and the food was excellent. In fact, it was quite the feast.

After dinner I headed back to Universal for Halloween Horror Nights. I made it through most of the haunted houses. The longest wait I had was about 30 minutes. Universal does a great job with this event. The houses are very well done and the rest of the park is setup very well. I'm always amazed at the number of personnel needed to pull an event off of this maginitude. There are so many people who work during this event. The mission is to scare the Heck out of you and Universal pretty much succeeds at it.

Tomorrow I have to head over to WWoS to pick-up my race packet for Saturday's 5K through the Magic Kingdom. Most of my day will be spent at EPCOT meeting up with some friends. Tomorrow is a pretty big day around Disney World. Not only is it the opening day of the Food & Wine Festival, but it's also Disney World's Birthday! The resort is turning 39 years old tomorrow (technically the Magic Kingdom). So...Happy Birthday WDW!

I know a lot of people like it, but I'm not much of a fan. I mean...It's okay, but on the list of DVC resorts it's towards the bottom. It's a little too quiet, secluded and peaceful for my taste. I'm sure others like those aspects of a resort, but I prefer more hustle and bustle, more activity. I wish the counter service restaurant, Roaring Fork, was larger and the pool area was more substantial. I tried Aritst Point a few years back and it was just ok. Same with Whispering Canyon...Just ok. There a lot of plusses though; proximatey to the Magic Kingdom, nice trails for biking and running, and it's close to Bay Lake.

I'm headed out the door in a few minutes. The day will start over at EPCOT where I'm seeing some friends. Along the way I'll be eating my way around World Showcase. Today is the official start of EPCOT's Food & Wine Festival. I'm expecting a pretty crowded park.

Later today I'm stopping over at Wide World of Sports to pick-up my race packet for tomorrow's 5K. There's also a sport & fitness expo taking place. I'll probably walk through some of the booths to see what's happening.

I plan on turning-in early tonight. The race starts at 7:00AM tomorrow, but we need to report to the Transportation and Ticket Center around 6:15AM.